


Cinderkit

by lovefaun



Category: Warriors - Erin Hunter
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Reincarnation, Yellowfang is like a mother to Cinderpelt, it hurt writing this
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-06
Updated: 2020-11-06
Packaged: 2021-03-08 17:28:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,800
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27420460
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lovefaun/pseuds/lovefaun
Summary: When Cinderpelt dies, Yellowfang is the first to meet her as her spirit passes. When the older she cat doesn’t lead her to StarClan, Cinderpelt fears that her ancestors are angry with her, but learns they actually have something much more special planned for her future.
Comments: 1
Kudos: 15





	Cinderkit

_Slash._

That was the last thing the gray she cat saw as horrifying, black and white lumbering paws came crashing down on her with outstretched claws that glinted dully in the dim light, followed by a snarl. She never did feel the way the animal tore at her body and left it limp and pathetic.

It was the last thing she saw, and the last thing she’d heard. But she didn’t feel a thing.

Without knowing what was going on, the world around her had gone dark when she opened her eyes again. She was aware of her own presence, but at the same time she felt nonexistent in a dark, empty void.

She jolted when suddenly a dark figure lit up beneath where she stood. Her nerves sparked throughout her and she could feel the need to bristle her fur, but there was none there in the first place. The dark figure slowly presented itself more until the shape of a limp body laid just below her. 

The she cat tried to run as a starry mist began to permeate throughout the air as it trailed off the body. The cloud wrapped around her and she worried it would suffocate her. Her fears were quelled when she noticed it began to outline her until she could see her paws beneath her. They were dark with a starry outline that shined brighter than Silverpelt.

She hardly noticed the soft sound of pawsteps that echoed behind her in the comforting silence of their shared void.

“Cinderpelt?” a raspy mew breathed fox-lengths behind her. The greeting came off as a gentle, motherly fret.

Said medicine cat whipped around to face her guest, locking eyes with the amber gaze of Yellowfang. Blue eyes were wide with confusion and fear, but the second they met with a stare, everything clicked.

“Come here,” Yellowfang sighed gently, Cinderpelt’s emotions hitting her before the younger she cat even got the chance to burst. “I know.”

Cinderpelt couldn’t control the way she suddenly rushed forward on three legs and buried her nose in the chest fur of Yellowfang, followed by a broken sob. She quivered as Yellowfang’s bushy tail stroked her back and Cinderpelt’s starry image flickered unstably. 

“I know,” Yellowfang repeated when no other words could be spoken, her voice softer than before. The dark gray Persian bent her head down and licked Cinderpelt’s head, her scarred face scrunched with worry. Perhaps she hadn’t expected their reunion to be as rough as this.

“I don’t understand,” Cinderpelt spoke finally, her voice muffled. Yellowfang slowly shifted so that her voice was no longer lost in the Persian’s matted pelt. 

The younger she cat shook her head as if she were fighting her own battles with words in her head. “I don’t understand,” she said again, her voice sadder. “I didn’t...I still had time.”

Cinderpelt whimpered like a kit when Yellowfang gently guided her to lay down. The larger, former medicine cat curled up around her and licked her cheek. 

“StarClan has a set time for every cat,” Yellowfang began in a slow rumble. “Sometimes cats get taken too soon before StarClan can even expect it, and sometimes it all goes exactly as time planned it. This was your time.”

“But- But why?” Cinderpelt sniffled. The wisdom and age she carried as a full medicine cat had vanished. Now, she didn’t feel anything above Yellowfang’s newly appointed apprentice. It was a comforting feeling at least. “ThunderClan doesn’t have a medicine cat now! And Sorreltail’s kits...”

“The kits are safe now,” Yellowfang assured her gently. “You saved them and defended them with your life, even if it meant losing it. They’re being watched over now.” The old she cat rumbled lowly as an unspoken thought stirred in her mind.

With a sigh, she continued. “Cinderpelt... Leafpool returned.”

“What?”

She didn’t repeat, only went on. “ThunderClan couldn’t ask for anyone better to take your place, and she’ll have an apprentice of her own before you know it.”

Cinderpelt blinked. “One of Sorreltail’s kits, you think?”

Yellowfang’s tail stroked her back. “No, but it’ll come sooner than you know it. She’ll have the best help she could ask for, and the knowledge you gave her to pass along. She learned from the best.”

Cinderpelt sighed defeatedly. “I never got the chance to apologize. I could have stopped her.”

“Leafpool needed to explore first to learn where her heart truly laid. You are not to blame.”

Cinderpelt fell silent. Not wanting to focus on the harsh reality of the circumstances, she looked up at Yellowfang with soft eyes and gave the older cat’s chest fur a lick. “Even in StarClan, your pelt is messy as always.” She snorted gently when her tongue got caught in mats and tangles, breaking her head away and smacking her mouth to get the fur out.

Yellowfang let out a huff of purring laughter. “I didn’t come here just to get fussed over by my apprentice. You’re lucky I don’t make you find your own way around,” she joked.

Cinderpelt smiled up at her, but tilted her head when Yellowfang absently gazed at her with thoughts stirring in her mind. 

“You were so young,” Yellowfang mumbled. “You didn’t even get the chance to do what you wanted. A life wasted.”

Cinderpelt’s heart felt broken for her. She quickly stood on her paws. “I know I wanted to be a warrior, but that doesn’t mean I regret being your apprentice,” she mewed, bumping her head against Yellowfang’s. “I promise. Even if I’d never hurt my leg, if I knew I’d get to be your apprentice, I still would choose you.”

_And maybe...If I had been your apprentice without a broken leg, I could have saved you. I’m so sorry._

Her thoughts were broken and she twitched when Yellowfang let out a mock gag. “Alright, don’t get too sappy. You’ll make me as sick as a badger with crowfood for dinner,” she mumbled, her tone lighthearted. 

Cinderpelt snorted, “Whatever.” She bounced on three legs with the energy of a kit. She suddenly noticed, despite how crooked and bent her injured leg still was, for the first time it felt painless. 

_StarClan really can heal everything. I guess they just can’t shape it, though._

Cinderpelt paced in a small circle for a brief moment, feeling restless of the void. When she stopped, she looked at Yellowfang. “So, I guess I’m dead now.” She had to accept it, as if saying it herself made the situation hit completely. “You’re going to lead me to StarClan, right?”

Everything was silent for a few intense heartbeats as Yellowfang met her gaze. The older cat inhaled deeply and sighed, looking away to avoid her eyes. “Not yet. Let’s just take a moment to ourselves first.”

Cinderpelt didn’t pick up on Yellowfang’s serious tone and rolled her eyes. “Come on, what are we waiting for? All this time I’ve spent sharing dreams with StarClan, I’m ready to see what it looks like!”

“Sit down, Cinderpelt,” Yellowfang’s voice shook briefly. Surprised, the younger she cat seated herself without a question, her expression turning grim and cautious.

“Am I...Am I not allowed in?”

Her wary words hurt the core of both of them, and without a response from Yellowfang, the world began to feel as if it were spiraling and falling apart around her.

“What did I do wrong?!” she gasped, voice growing more hysteric the longer she sat in the other’s silence. “I tried to be my best! Is it because I let Leafpool leave? Is that why StarClan is angry with me? I—“

Yellowfang padded over to her and circled her closely, their flanks brushing. Cinderpelt almost felt suffocated by how her former mentor’s long, thick coat seemed to swallow her.

“Hush now,” Yellowfang whispered gently, her tone not giving away any hints other than a comforting love. Cinderpelt wasn’t having it however and she turned on her mentor with a harsh gaze and a reflection of hurt that glimmered painfully in her round blue eyes.

“If you have something to say, then just say it!” Cinderpelt cried, sniffling when she felt her nose run. She couldn’t take it anymore and looked away, staring down at her forepaws. _Am I going to the Dark Forest? But why? Why is StarClan so angry with me?_

“Cinderpelt,” Yellowfang began, her words drawn from her mouth carefully as she sought the right words. “I just want some time together for now—we won’t see each other again for a while.”

“ _No,_ ” Cinderpelt bit back, hating how harsh her voice sounded. Shaking her head and unforgivingly ridding herself of the guilt, she snapped, “I’m not a medicine cat taking prophecies anymore, so you don’t have to be so vague with me! You’re scaring me, Yellowfang! Just _tell me_ why I’m not going to StarClan!”

Cinderpelt felt a tenseness in Yellowfang’s body gradually fade as the two sat there in silence, save for the younger she cat’s hurt sobs. She choked back a growl of resistance when Yellowfang suddenly wrapped her large tail around her, an appendage that almost sized up to her whole body. She was pulled closely to the older cat and she bent down to lick her head.

“Please forgive me, Cinderpelt,” Yellowfang’s words were soft and apologetic, uncharacteristic for the once raspy and bold cat. “I haven’t been entirely honest with you. Let me show you something.”

Cinderpelt blinked with a soft sniffle as an image appeared in front of her after Yellowfang briefly flicked her tail. They were looking at the nursery from above. Cinderpelt could see the way her body was gently carried out for vigil, leaving Sorreltail shaking in her nest with her tail wrapped tightly around her four mewling kits. Her mate, and Cinderpelt’s own brother, Brackenfur, was bent beside her and whispering to her softly with words that were left unheard by Cinderpelt’s own ears.

“They’re beautiful,” Cinderpelt breathed as she looked at the kits, a wistful look shining in her eyes. “Despite everything...they’re so healthy too.”

“You risked everything to save them,” Yellowfang told her. “And you did a job well done. None of them were hurt, and Sorreltail is safe.”

Yellowfang took her closer to the little bundle of kits that squirmed under the queen’s tail. “You see this one?”

Cinderpelt gasped when Yellowfang pointed out a tiny gray kit. “It looks just like me!”

“I thought I heard them discussing naming her after you,” Yellowfang gave her a soft, playful smile. She met her blue eyes with a knowing gaze.

“Wow, I’m...I’m honored. I wish I could talk to them one last time.”

“There’s something I wanted to tell you,” Yellowfang began again. “Just like another cat will lead a dying one to StarClan, I’m guiding you. But you’re going somewhere more special.”

Suddenly, something in Cinderpelt clicked, and she turned her blue gaze back down to the especially restless kit of the bundle. “You mean...?”

“It was something I wanted for you,” Yellowfang hummed. “Don’t think I never saw the times you’d mope around the den when I was trying to train you. You’d try to say nothing was wrong, but I always knew what you were thinking, Cinderpelt.”

“I’m...I’m sorry, I—“

“Don’t be. I know you loved being a medicine cat, too,” Yellowfang gently assured her, turning her gaze away and looking at the little kit. “But sometimes, our lives go down the wrong path. Sometimes it’s intended...or sometimes our other chances are taken from us unforgivingly, leaving us wondering, ‘what if?’”

Cinderpelt shifted on her paws. “I remember what you told me about your life growing up,” she mewed. “I’m sorry...”

Yellowfang flicked her former apprentice’s nose with her bushy tail. “Don’t let me make you feel bad, dear,” her voice rumbled with soft laughter. “You should feel excited in these moments.”

“I am!” Cinderpelt gazed at her with wide eyes, though they still looked unsure. “I think?”

“You’re confused, aren’t you?”

Looking away, Cinderpelt only nodded.

“This little kit will have the path of a warrior,” Yellowfang explained with a soft meow, padding forward and gently bending her head to touch her nose to the kit’s head. She twitched with a soft mewl as if she felt their presence. “You’ll be able to see through this life, as if it were your own. She’ll be someone’s apprentice, a warrior, a daughter, a sister, a mother...Everything you already had, and more that you wanted.”

Cinderpelt felt something warm flowing through her, like her insides were glowing. “Will I know?”

“That’s up to this little kit to figure out,” Yellowfang mewed. “Little recollections of your life will fade through at times. She’ll have to be led down the right path to realizing she doesn’t have to follow your old life, but instead she was born with the right to start a new one.”

Cinderpelt let the words sink in as she watched the litter when they began to suckle on Sorreltail, beginning their first nursing.

“So I won’t remember this, will I?” When Yellowfang shook her head at Cinderpelt’s question, she nuzzled her head underneath her former mentor’s chin. “Then I have to thank you now.”

“One day, you’ll join me again in StarClan,” Yellowfang promised her with a soft mew that sounded like it had the strength of every mother in the forest. “But don’t rush it, let your soul find its peace. I’ll be waiting for you, I promise. I’ll never leave you. When you are finished, I’ll be here to take you.”

“Thank you so much,” Cinderpelt buried her face in Yellowfang’s comforting pelt, her shaky voice muffled. 

When she removed her face, Yellowfang leaned back and lifted her apprentice’s chin with her bushy tail. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner,” she whispered. “I knew you’d be excited. Maybe I was selfish in wanting just a little bit more time with you before you’re gone.” There was a sad look in her motherly amber gaze, but despite it all, she was smiling down warmly at the younger she cat.

“I love you, Yellowfang,” Cinderpelt breathed, her voice choking in her own throat. She was grateful to have been given such an opportunity, but at the same time, she was scared.

Yellowfang could sense her fears. She stroked her tail along Cinderpelt’s back. “Don’t worry. This kit may have some struggles, but she’ll live a long life. You’ll see enough to fulfill your own dreams.”

“I just can’t believe...Wow,” Cinderpelt breathed. She didn’t have many other words to say.

Yellowfang laughed fondly, “Are you ready?”

“Yeah...” Cinderpelt looked at the kit once, then up at Yellowfang. “Yeah, I’m ready.”

Yellowfang only nodded, nuzzling Cinderpelt’s head as they stood up together and padded over towards the litter of kits, their pelts brushing together while they walked. The older she cat stopped in front of the kits and bent her head. 

“StarClan watch over this kit as she begins her life,” she began in a mumble. “She was born under tragedy but has the chance to turn that around. StarClan be with my apprentice as you have so givingly granted her another chance with a life she never had. Watch over her spirit as she fulfills her dreams under starry guidance.”

When the words were completed, Cinderpelt’s form seemed to slowly fade like ash being blown in the wind. She gave Yellowfang a grateful, loving look, her eyes filled with warmth.

“I love you, my kit,” Yellowfang mumbled to her former apprentice and the two touched noses silently. “I’ll be waiting for you.” When they parted from their embrace, Yellowfang got one last chance to see her youthful, soft blue eyes before she had faded completely.

A sign of new life radiated off the little kit as she squirmed restlessly, breaking away from her mother’s teat with a sudden, loud mewl, followed by Sorreltail’s soft coos that seemed to give off a muffled echo in the otherworldly field of existence Yellowfang was seeing her from. The little kit glowed strangely in the darkness of the void, but Yellowfang could feel a warmth of appreciation radiating off of her before it faded fully.

Yellowfang couldn’t help the soft smile that spread across her scarred muzzle. For the last time, she dipped her head to the remains of her former apprentice’s spirit inside the kit as the old she cat began to fade herself, on her way back to StarClan. Before she was gone completely, she made sure to bless her former apprentice’s journey with the strongest words that came to mind, wanting to grant safe travels to the she cat who had come to be like the saintly kit she’d never had.

“May StarClan be with you...Cinderkit.”


End file.
